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Animated Reviews: Star vs. The Forces of Evil Season Two

We recently put up our review for Season One of the Disney XD Show Star vs. The Forces of Evil Season One but it’s second season ended a few days ago (as of this writing). The original season set up such a strong foundation through subverting it’s core concept, offering fun characters to have adventures with and not being afraid to be a bit serious if needed; Season Two has a lot to build off of.

Let’s go on a new adventure by diving into the second season of Star vs. The Forces of Evil!

Season Two kicks off with Star and Marco living their lives while dealing with a now partially-broken wand. All while this is happening, main villain Ludo is on his own after he lost everything from the Season One finale. Struggling through the wild, he finds the second half of Star’s wand and slowly becomes a more dangerous force to deal with.

So things sound more serious and that would be correct; the tone of the show is more focused on telling stories that connect with one another over the course of the entire season. While most episodes can stand on their own, a number of them continue exploring themes and story arcs that the cast is going through.

This change in tone is justified and with the sharp writing from Season One now even better, it feels like a nice balance between zany and grounded. Characters are also a bright spot for this season with characters getting major growth. Marco and Star are great examples of this, as both grow a lot in this season. The two find out more about themselves, opening doors for interesting conflicts.

Marco slowly overcomes his own insecurities all the while become stronger. No episode better shows this then ‘Running with Scissors’. This episode has Marco go through a major trial in order to get an important object back and the end result ‘changes’ him. He now has memories of another life, but he’s still ‘Marco’. That is something he has to deal with and while the season doesn’t really dive into how impacted the boy is from the trail, it does heavily imply what he will do in Season Three.

Star herself deals with a lot, not only trying to cope with the incoming responsibilities of becoming queen of her land but dealing with internal emotions and loss. Both of these happen in a storm through the mid-season finale and after that point, she must face two major conflicts; getting back something lost and trying to tame her feelings toward her best friend. These are things Star deals with for the rest of the season, playing out with three explosive and emotional episodes that close the season.

It sounds like the season is filled with drama but the show’s still charming. Many episodes have a sharp sense of humor and the best part is how well the character dialog is this time out. It was great in Season One but this latest season further enhances this aspect of character dynamics. It’s not just Star and Marco that connect with one another but other characters as well. Cast members from Season One like Ludo, Janna, Tom and Jackie all get more attention allowing them to become more fleshed out. This means axing some side characters (Marco’s friends) but still, the cast is great and bounce off each other well.

Animation and music, like Season One, is very impressive. But unlike Season One which shifted styles a bit more often due to different animation studios producing the episodes, Season Two is more consistent. It still looks great but having a more ‘grounded’ art style helps make animation and character expressions more focused. Music is where this season really impresses, with a few vocal tracks playing at key episodes.

They have a big impact on the story of the show and development on it’s characters, but they are also really catchy. Star’s Princess Song for example is a great case point; it’s full of energy and shifts in style. However it pushes out truths that have major impact for events in a following episode. That is a great example of music having important roles in a story; a Disney tradition in many cases.

Overall, Season Two of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil is a great continuation of a strong show. Offering deeper character, sharper writing and high production values; it’s one of the better animated show shows on the market. While the season finale leaves a lot of questions unanswered, the third season (as of this writing) is set for a Summer 2017 launch. So if you really get into the show after reading this review, the wait isn’t going to be that long!